South Korean General Election Panel Study: Two Waves, 2008

The South Korean General Election Panel Study 2008 examined vote determinants of Korean voters and the causes and dynamics of changes in voter preferences. The survey was conducted from March to April 2008 in two waves with a large-scale panel of 3,503 representing the nation's gender, age, region, and education proportions. The study analyzed factors that influence the formation and change of voter preferences through three broad theoretical frameworks: (1) The sociological model that explains voter preference as a reflection of major social fragmentation (education, gender, income, religion, region, etc.); (2) The psychological model of the Michigan School that explains voter preference formation and change as activation of party identification in United States or Western elections, and regional identification in Korea as a proxy; (3) The rational voter model that posits that individuals, after calculating their own interests, support candidates or parties that possess the policies and ideology to maximize those interests. The South Korean Election Panel studies utilize "tracking core questions": questions that repeatedly track the change in vote determinants. These questions focus on attitudes of candidate factors, political party factors, election campaigns, issues, and policies. In this study, respondents were asked about: their voting behavior, party preferences, exposure to different media sources, the economy, various politicians, opinions about the election, opinions about President Lee Myung-bak and his administration, and the general election. Demographic information includes age, gender, religion, education level, occupation, hometown, homeownership type, and family income.